My wife has been wanting to update our kitchen for a long time and after some 25 years of saving, we are finally ready to renovate.  We will need a lot of drawer handles/pulls for the expected cabinets.  The wife got the brilliant idea that I could forge them...

Now I have to come up with a design that I can easily reproduce in fairly large multiples.  Coincidently our current handles are a commercial production of a fairly typical "blacksmith" handle like this one:

So I can't do that.  I'm thinking about a single post style, forged like a large nail in a header, with a forged, ornamental head. After forging I would grind flat the end of the post, drill and tap it for mounting.

The new kitchen aesthetic will be fairly clean and modern (as opposed to the current "country kitchen" look.  I have a small power hammer (Anyang 33), small fly press, and swing arm treadle hammer to assist me, as well as 2 x 72 grinder.  Looking for advice on what has worked for you folks in the past or a good online tutorial. 

My thought would be:

1. Start with a few lengths of 3/4" round or thereabouts.
2. Forge a short tenon on the end, say 1/2" round x 3/4" long. (You could do the rough forging on the Anyang's open dies and then finish with a spring swage.)
3. Hot-cut the knob from the parent bar about 3/4" back from the rough shoulder of the tenon.
4. Using a rivet header made from a piece of 3/4" thick flat bar with a 1/2" diameter hole, flatten the head of the knob down until it's about 1/4" thick; this will be about 1-1/4" in diameter.
5. Do whatever decorative forging you want to do on the face of the knob. Given the aesthetic, I'd suggest John Rigoni's trick of sprinkling some scale on the face before you do the last couple of hits on the power hammer, and leave it at that.
6. Grind, drill, and tap as described.

If you start with half a dozen or so bars, you should be able to get a good rotation going. Depending on the efficiency of your technique, you might even be able to do all the forging steps (or at very least 3-5) for each knob in a single heat.

I must confess that I will miss the old "country kitchen" look; I always found it very welcoming and cozy.

 

 

I only have a couple different thoughts to John's suggestions. I'd do as much as possible on the power hammer, leaving hand work for fidly bits or artistic effects. I think I'd do all the tenons at one time, drilling and threading them will be a PITA if you don't have a lathe. A good drill vise clamped to the table of a drill press will work nicely enough though and you can jig them so they fit tightly in the drawer end. Consistency is the real trick to this project.  

I much prefer localized heat for upsetting. If you make the header from heavy stock you'll be able to heat the head with a torch and use a top hammer to upset and emboss the pattern in one or two blows. You'll maybe have to cool the header every couple three pulls but a bucket of water is all you need. Just do NOT let the header reach red heat! The header doesn't need to be "tool" steel, mild works fine.

Striking more than one blow on a top tool with a pattern is seriously tricky, any shift and it'll become a muddy scramble pattern. If it turns out you need to use two or more blows to upset and pattern the knobs, make two top tools and leave the pattern for last.

I think that's my six bits. Maybe more later if I think of something.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Cut the heads off of RR spike heads 2" long or so, drill and tap holes in them(on the cut side obviously), polish the spike heads. 

Take a piece of 3/4" maybe 1" round, fuller a crossways groove into one side 1/2" maybe 3/4" wide, cut off about 2" long, drill and tap. John Switzer at Black Bear Forge made these a few years back but they are pretty simple and quick. 

A brass round bar 1/2" - 3/4" drill and tap sideways, drill a hole through a piece of 1/2", so you get "T" handles with brass cross beam thingys. Or you could also grind the brass into balls so you have ball ends. 

Clean and modern, i would try and do more machining than forging. 

As a kitchen remodeling professional for almost 30 years, let me throw in my $.02.  Don't put a knob on the top drawers of the base cabinets.  It will grab your pocket and rip it.  It's very annoying.  Same goes for any pull that would grab you, like these ubiquitous rod pulls.  I don't have them in my kitchen, but I've gotten whiplash in other peoples' kitchen.

There really  are no rules when it comes to what goes where.  Some people do knobs on the short upper doors (above hood and fridge) while doing pulls on the taller doors and base cabinets.  Some people do knobs on doors and pulls on drawers (most common).  So have fun with that.

Here are some pulls I made for a serving area off our kitchen.  I made a jig to help me be a little consistent.

 

 

I don't know how far you are along in your kitchen renovation and whether you have bought the new cabinets yet but we renovated our old house in Ft. Morgan, CO and then moved up here to Laramie and did it all over again in the new house.  We used IKEA cabinets in both projects and have been very pleased with them.  Many of the commercial cabinets you get at a big box store a POSs made in China.  The IKEA ones are very well engineered and good quality.  And they come with soft close hinges and drawer glides which are nice.

Also, we used a lot of drawers under the counter level and find them much better and easier to access than cupboards.  We highly recommend that you look seriously at that option.

IKEA has a kitchen planning/designing app on their web site which when you are finished will give you a total inventory of what you will need to buy and how much the total cost will be.

We found that the cost from IKEA is generally less than the big boxes and you get a better quality product.  If you are not near a brick and mortar IKEA store they will ship. We have done both.  Our nearest store is in south Denver area and is about 2.5 hours away depending on traffic. The shipping IIRC is a flat rate and the delivery guys will bring it into your house or garage.  BTW, if you go to a store you have to load it into your vehicle yourself which can be fun with some of the larger items.

One caveat, I don't know how much tariffs may affect prices of availability

G

Fantastic advice from everyone, thanks to all for taking the time to respond.  

Unfortunately we are pretty far along in the process.  John, I also didn't mind the existing country kitchen (other than the damaged fascia on some of the older cabinet doors) so this was kind of my wife's project.  We initially coordinated with a number of kitchen design experts, then chose a contractor whose work we saw and liked.  He worked with my wife to get an idea of what she was interested in, took measurements of existing conditions and came up with a number of potential floor plans and elevations.  After my wife selected the design she liked most (with a little input from myself) he came by again with renderings and final plans for the space.  It looked like a very professional package.

When we went to Home Depot to select our cabinet door materials we found that he had been working directly with their kitchen consultants who had actually done all the design work for him, with a little input on existing envelope sizes.  So I guess we ended up at a big box store after all (though it certainly isn't how it was presented to us).  I am hoping we will at least have decent guides and slides.  Had I know it sooner, IKEA would have been a good alternative, but I think the closest outlet is around 6 hours away.

Latt,

I wouldn't just assume that ready-to-assemble cabinets like Ikea and the plethora of Asian imports are going to be cheaper than American-made cabinets.  I'm a Bishop Cabinets Inc., dealer.  They're made in Montgomery, AL. It's a small, family-own business.  Their cabinets are toward the upper end of the "mid-priced" market in terms of price and quality.  I get tempted every once in awhile to look into ready-to-assemble cabinets, but every time I price out a kitchen with made in Vietnam RTA cabinets versus my made in Alabama cabinets, the difference is price is definitely not worth the hassle and time it takes to assemble these cabinets.  With these Chinese RTA cabinets, I'd have to break out a chisel and my router to correct manufacturing errors, and there was no way I was going to trust little zinc screws to hold the face frames on.  So, I had to spend a week assembling them with glue, clamps, and brads.

I'm not making a blanket statement, but this has been my experience.

Kraftmaid are good cabinets, but the big box employees won't mention that their quote is for particleboard boxes.  You have to ask for the all-plywood upgrade.  If you can find an independent kitchen guy who reps a good American-made brand, you'll probably get better service and price than Lowes or Home Depot.

My average kitchen using our best box is probably around $18,000 for the cabinets (installed).  Look into Bishop.  Great cabinets and really good people.  Nothing in it for me.

Or nevermind.  

Dog gone it NAT! I expected you to give me something to disagree with. Are you always no fun on Fridays?

I'll spare everybody the story of the kitchen cabinets in this place. It doesn't really apply but I am following along.

Frosty The Lucky.

Latt, one more thing:  I was discussing this with Madelynn and I forgot to mention that we decided to go with an electric induction range and we really like it compared to gas or resistance electric.  Unfortunately, it does not double as an induction forge.  Like all kinds of stoves there are advantages and drawbacks but we have found that the drawbacks (can only use magnetic cookware) are greatly outweighed by the advantages (clean, fast, very responsive, no open flames or combustion products).

If you or anyone else is thinking about induction I suggest that you get an induction hot plate (about $50 IIRC) and use that for awhile to form an opinion.

In 2019 with a large kitchen and including an island made up of cabinets, sink, lazy Susan in the corner under the counter, 120 degree Austrian made hinges, top of the line doors (21 doors, 12 drawer fronts according to M.), drawers and drawer glides, and under cabinet and in cabinet lighting we spent about $5000 at IKEA.  Six years later they still look great.  Also, there was only one piece where I had to correct the manufactured holes, etc..  Generally, I was impressed with how well everything went together and the quality of the IKEA products.  That said, the sides, bottoms, tops and doors are a heavy weight particle board with a plastic coating which is part of the reason that the price point is lower than plywood.  But the structural integrity seems more than adequate and everything appears to have very good Swedish engineering behind it.  Obviously, if we were doing it again today it would be more expensive than $5k.  Inflation alone would kick it up to about $6.3k.

I agree with Sox that a lot of the Asian made stuff has very poor quality control and marginal quality overall.  When you read the on line reviews of many of these products there are a lot more where folk have had problems versus those who like the product and are happy with it.  Some of the reviews are pretty horrific.

G.

 Inspiration for pulls. 

Look up sterling silverware pulls and knobs.

Most of the cabinets I see being sold today are already assembled and from Canada. The labor to put them together basically nullifies any saving from being flat packed. That will probably change soon thou with tariffs.

21 hours ago, Frosty said:

I much prefer localized heat for upsetting.

Agreed, and the perfect tool for this is an induction forge.  And in the almost 2 years since I got mine, I have used it for about 95% of my forging.  The only things I use propane now are for really large pieces or knives.

Because the wife wants this, perhaps use it as an excuse to get a new tool????

A few years back my dad was working for a storage facility. One of the guys that had stuff in storage was a cabinet maker who had most of his tools there. He got behind on the payments and they were going to auction off his stuff. My dad stepped in and was able to get a deal for him to keep his stuff. In return he gave my dad a mitre saw (in my shop now), a drill press, and made new cabinet doors for him. He used locally source pecan, they were in Louisiana at the time, that turned out gorgeous. 

You make a huge change in the kitchen just by changing the doors. I never really realized that.  I also never realized how expensive just cabinet doors would have been. 

trapezoid shape. Screws from inside.

Looks very clean.

I have "hidden" handles. No hardware. We just have a new kitchen 2 months ago. We went with a lot of drawers and no overhead cupboards, makes is very cramped (and I'm tall so I have troubles seeing the workarea)

Softclose is standard over here. On drawers and hinges. George. Do you know ikea is using one of the top brands of hinges and drawerslides. There boxes are meh, even the bigger ones have better quality. 

We went with a local one. Has a cnc machine so all made to fit in the area an not the fixed box size.

My wife and I have looked into property in Italy in our dream retirement fantasies. Lots of regions in the south are extremely affordable due to the mass exodus of young people to the industrial north and the plummeting birthrate in general.  One or two bedroom--what we would call townhomes here--go for as little as $15K euros.  They offer incentives to attract expats.  They also have 1 euro homes, with caveats, but I wouldn't take on anything like that now.

However, one big deterrent is the typical kitchen in these very old homes.  They're worse than the kitchens you find in 15 foot travel trailers.  But eating out in those smaller villages and towns is very affordable, so, maybe it's not that big an issue.

But those Italian madri and noone made some incredible food in those tiny kitchens.

Puglia. Primitivo :inlove:

 

Sox, both Madelyn and I have lived in some pretty small and remote places in the US and I'm sure that Southern Italy would present some of the same challenges.  The biggest one IMO is remoteness from what are usually considered essential services, shopping besides a small, local market, doctor, dentist, mechanic who can work on modern vehicles which have lots of electronic do funnies, building suppliers for anything but a very small project, etc..  Often, these are an hour or two aways, each way.  

While you may be used to it from living in Florida southern Italy can get HOT in the summer and AC is unlikely in small villages.  Maybe you can afford two places and have a cabin in northern Sweden for the summer and Italy for the winter.

I have also discovered that as we get older stairs are not our friends and availability of medical services and therapies become more important.  When my late wife, Martha, was fighting cancer we had to go into Denver for chemo.  We were less than an hour and a half away each way but there were folk there who had to come in from Kansas and Nebraska who had to drive 6-8 hours each way which made it an overnight trip for them.  I suspect that Southern Italy could be pretty remote if you needed anything like that.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but if this is a serious retirement choice do your due diligence and make an informed decision.  Madelynn's folks retired from central Florida to western North Carolina (near Murphy) and loved it but had to leave when her mother developed medical issues and the area was too remote.

G

 

Ahhhh, retirement plans, of the memories. <sigh>

Before Deb and I got married I used to take 3-4 weeks vacation in the winter. Be glad, I just deleted the heated gripe I have with the state gvt. and the . . . GRRRRRR union. 

Sorry but it still gripes me. 

Anyway, I'd fly down, spend weekends with friends and relatives and spend week days motoring around. That way I wasn't imposing during the week AND I got to do one of my favorite pass times, talking to people I'd never met before over coffee. It's the BEST way to learn about interesting things, people, etc. to see meet or whatever! I used to drive cafe to cafe and spend the night in a motel. Heck, one time I rode follow (tail?) in a small cattle drive, I rode along slowly in my old Bronco and occasionally waved my arm out a window, swung the driver door open slowly once and sounded a HeyUP or hut hut as I idled along. 

The cowboys didn't have to split the herd so I could drive through and they had an extra to do other herding. It lasted all of maybe 2 miles but was pleasant, low effort bit of distraction. Made some friends, got bowl of lunch out of the Chucky's bean pot. It was sort of a combination beef stew / pork and beans with potatoes, carrots, onion and other stuff, thick, rich and filling, dutch oven biscuits. 

Okay, deleted a long post there. I'm hoping Deb and I can spend a little time traveling in the RV but who knows. <sigh>

And THAT is the issue, you NEVER know what's ahead of you, any of us could be dead before we open the next post. Unfortunately I came to the realization too late to live every day like it's my last. Old habits are too ingrained. I still find myself planning to forge something I see here and I haven't lit a fire in probably 3 years.

Sorry I got maudlin there, selling off my stuff does that to me.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

6 hours ago, gewoon ik said:

Puglia. Primitivo :inlove:

 

Yes!!!

3 hours ago, George N. M. said:

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but if this is a serious retirement choice do your due diligence and make an informed decision.

At one point, southern Italy was our escape plan, but things turned out differently.  So, now, if we do it, it'll be a vacation home that we do a month or two at a time.  A lot has to go our way for this to become a reality.  It's 75% fantasy and 25% possibility.  I'm still keeping up with my Italian lessons, capisci?  I've probably watched 500 videos on retiring to Italy.  Lots of pros.  Lots of cons.  Affordability is a BIG pro.  Healthy food is a BIG pro. Slower paced lifestyle might be either.  Tiny kitchens are a con.  The truth is we have two small doggies that are only two years old.  They'll live way past our retirement age and will be loveable little balls and chain.  So, it will likely be a week or two vacation in a rental with someone house and dog sitting for us.

Still, it's intriguing.  In ten years, our house will be worth $600,000 if trends continue.  We buy a ready to move in house for 30k euros, combine the leftover proceeds with our retirement savings, we'd be living a very comfortable life traveling all over Europe, assuming...

You should watch that Netflix documentary called "Blue Zones."  It features an Italian region that has an extraordinary concentration of 100+ year old people.  The walking on hilly streets was cited as one of the reasons people lived so long.  No cars.  No Little Rascals.  Just two legs.

I'm of the opinion that I will live a longer, healthier life if I stay away from doctors and hospitals as much as possible.  That's just me.  Your mileage may vary.

Where i grew up we had 3,000 people in the whole county. I lived the country life and i prefer living in town. Where i live now is a small city of 30,000 and i much prefer going 5 minutes to the grocery once a week than 2 hours once a month. 

When I built my house, I seriously considered pre-made cabinets. Then found that the standard sizes would not fit properly without lots of dead space.

So, I built my own cabinets in place, using real wood.  No filler blocks between boxes, no dead space, every inch is usable for storage.  And the height fits us perfectly. The standard height is way too short.

The cabinets in my kitchen were custom built for the original owner, who was exactly a foot shorter than me.